Michael Winner has died aged 77

Wife announces death of Death Wish director

The British director, best known to movie buffs for wielding the megaphone on the Death Wish movies, is survived by his wife Geraldine.

Born in London, in 1935, Winner made a name for himself as a journalist and critic, before moving into TV work. He worked as an assistant director at the BBC, before making his feature debut with Shoot To Kill , which he also wrote.

After that, he worked prolifically on both risqué sex comedies and more serious dramas, working with some notable names including Oliver Reed, Michael Crawford and Denholm Elliot, before Hollywood beckoned.

He made his American film debut with Lawman (1971), starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Duvall, before directing raunchy ghost-story prequel The Nightcomers (with Marlon Brando), and beginning a fruitful working partnership with Charles Bronson in 1975’s The Mechanic (later remade as a Jason Statham vehicle).

Bronson would go on to star in Winner’s controversial revenge thriller Death Wish and its two sequels.

After the ‘70s, Winner’s output slowed, although he was never far from the public eye (as famous for his restaurant criticism and his larger-than-life personality as his was for his filmmaking).

He made his last film as director, Parting Shots , in 1998, and though it was far from a hit with critics, Winner still attracted a top-drawer cast including Ben Kingsley and Bob Hoskins.